The Sindh government on Monday approached the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) and federal energy minister Omar Ayub over the increase in power outages in Karachi after a show-cause notice was issued to the K-Electric, it has been learnt.
According to details, Provincial Energy Minister ImtiazShaikh wrote a letter to both NEPRA and the minister, saying that instead of lowering the electricity load shedding after the show-cause notice, the power utility has increased the unannounced power outages.
“They are still carrying out load-shedding of upto eight to 12 hours in the city,” the minister said and asked them to direct K-Electric to immediately minimize load shedding duration in the city.ImtiazShaikh further asked them to convene a meeting of the stakeholders to find a permanent solution to the issue.
He also conveyed that even other parts of the province are facing power outages of upto 12 to 18 hours by Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO) and Sukkur Electric Supply Company (SEPCO).
It is pertinent to mention here that on August 13, during the hearing of a case regarding load-shedding and electrocution deaths at the Supreme Court’s Karachi registry, Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed took K-Electric to task over power cuts. K-Electric cut off power supply to half of Karachi, just a day after it was directed to end load shedding, he observed. “Are they in their right minds,” the chief justice censured the power company’s CEO.
K-Electric’s lawyer told the judges that power wasn’t cut off. “People die and they [K-Electric] go and get bail from the high court,” the chief justice remarked. “This is a matter of people’s lives. We will not leave them at their mercy.” Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed said people of Karachi are bearing the brunt of the power company’s monopoly.
